Technical Can Paint Make Bad Chrome Look Better?

I've been working on our '52 Chieftain, and have brought it back from a "20-footer" to a "3-footer" -- except for the front bumpers, which need rechroming.

In the interim, while I save my nickels for that job, I've been trying various methods to make the parts look better. Step One was to remove the corrosion with aluminum foil and Diet Coca Cola (thank you, YouTube!), which worked great.

Step Two was to try applying chrome paint to the fugly parts. I used the top-rated chrome model paint designed for plastic, and that has not survived subsequent cleanings. Results were unsatisfactory, anyway, so I'm not heartbroken that it's slowly rubbed away.

Is there a metal "chrome paint" that can help camouflage bad chrome? I'm not looking for perfection, just a better presentation.

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Not really, paint looks like paint. But from a distance, it does look cleaner than just leaving pits and scabs. Medium silver metallic touch up paint does better than "chrome" paint, but only touch up the areas that have no plating left on them. Old worn thin chrome will still present better than paint. If you've got a big scab of plating missing, a piece of peel and stick HVAC tape (basically aluminum foil with a sticky tape back) works to cover it up.

If your bumpers are just worn and don't have any "open sores" so to speak, the best you're going to get is just a polish and a wax job.

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If you look close, you'll notice that the whole driver's side end of the bumper on my girlfriend's '51 was peeled off to bare steel, we filled in the missing area with the HVAC foil tape. Not nearly as good as a nice bumper but from a distance it's still shiny and even, and much better than just an open chunk of rusty steel or a huge paint spot. We sanded it clean and primered it with Rustoleum to keep it from trapping rust underneath, has held up great over the past couple years, although her car is garaged.

The small pits we just touched in with some silver metallic touch up paint and anywhere any chrome was still intact we polished it up and left it alone. I see a lot of people paint their whole bumpers when they are in poor shape like this but to me this is so much better looking than completely painted bumpers.

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Sounds like You tried "Alclad"..?It does look very presentable applied over a smooth gloss-black surface in plastic model applications, however isn't durable to touch or handling of the component even in the realm of model kit assembly.
I've looked into the option of "chrome paint", the type often seen on motorcycle helmets, fuel tanks etc. that You seem to refer to. From what I've learned, not many paint&body men deal with it, and it's just as demanding/unforgiving on the surface prep as chrome-plating is, so from what I understand, this may not be a substantially lower-cost alternative for chrome-plating steel, at least not where chrome-plating is still available locally.

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There really isn't any 'chrome' paint or coating that looks like the real thing. There's a few that photograph well, but in person it's obvious it's not the real thing. Best luck I've had with 'restoring' chrome is by buffing it with a loose cotton buff using white rouge compound. This will remove smaller imperfections, remove corrosion from most of the pits and restore the shine, but places where the chrome is missing or heavily pitted will still be noticeable, although the pitting can be disguised with some silver paint. I'll 'dust' the paint on, then 'polish' the excess off with chrome polish. It may take more than one application until you get the 'feel' for doing this. I've made some pretty nasty looking motorcycle exhausts look very decent with this method. You do have to exercise some care when doing this so you don't buff through the 'good' chrome. Time consuming and a dirty job, but it works well.

You might look at vinyl wrapping the bumper; there's a 'chrome' wrap that looks about as good as anything else you could try.

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Just take 'em in and have them replated. I don't know where you are located, I'm guessing outside of California. Those bumpers can't be that expensive to do if you shop around - prices do vary. These days most shops even offer "driver" plating vs the high dollar "show quality" plating. Ask around, ask other car guys.
There is no real replacement for chrome plating..............

Member

'Chrome' powder will never look like real chrome. On some items it can get very close (generally items with 'detail'; I did a set of motorcycle carbs that looked very good) but on larger parts it will be obvious it's not real chrome. The other issue is the higher the reflectability (and the more it looks like 'chrome'), the more fragile the surface is. You can clear-coat over it for protection, but that reduces the chrome effect markedly. For 'show' use it can look pretty good, but in daily use it just doesn't hold up.

And if you do want to plate later, getting the powder off is a PITA....

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I've never found any paint that makes bad chrome look better. The most effective way I've found to make pitted chrome look better is simply rubbing it with fine steel wool. It makes an amazing difference, and it's cheap and quick too.

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'Chrome' powder will never look like real chrome. On some items it can get very close (generally items with 'detail'; I did a set of motorcycle carbs that looked very good) but on larger parts it will be obvious it's not real chrome. The other issue is the higher the reflectability (and the more it looks like 'chrome'), the more fragile the surface is. You can clear-coat over it for protection, but that reduces the chrome effect markedly. For 'show' use it can look pretty good, but in daily use it just doesn't hold up.

And if you do want to plate later, getting the powder off is a PITA....

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True. Never as good as real chrome. I see what you are saying about the larger parts. Most of the parts that I have seen with chrome powder coating were small.

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No substitute for chrome.That being said if you peel the bumper down to bare metal,prime properly and paint it with silver brake caliper paint it looks pretty decent and stays on quite well.Does NOT look like chrome.That paint has been on there for two years now.IME "chrome" paint is in the same category as free sex and self cleaning rifles-fairy tales.

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Never have shopped for '52 Pontiac bumpers. Are they so scarce that a good, driver quality original is out of the question? So many people complain re: chrome shop cost, quality, today's chrome vs. old chrome. If you spend say, $500 on such a bumper, it's a better deal. If that's even possible.
Be glad "Dontfitchuk'' doesn't make a bumper for yours.

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My vent window frames are needing plating. Since they are one of the few chrome pieces around the windows ( the rest is polished stainless) I was wondering about HVAC tape or vinyl. Some vinyl on race car #'s sure looks good. They only 1" wide on the front and 1/2" on top. Any other ideas?

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My vent window frames are needing plating. Since they are one of the few chrome pieces around the windows ( the rest is polished stainless) I was wondering about HVAC tape or vinyl. Some vinyl on race car #'s sure looks good. They only 1" wide on the front and 1/2" on top. Any other ideas?

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I have used the HVAC tape before on my daughters beater 60 Chevy trim. As has been posted it looked better then silver paint and held up well. The biggest problem is applying it with out any wrinkles in it as it is fairly thin.
I have no experience with vinyl but have seen some chrome wraps that look petty good.
What ever you use clean then smooth the surface as well as you can as any blemish or pit will transfer thru.
Torchie

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Nope.
But.....if I were in your position, I'd be tempted to sandblast 'em, sand 'em smooth as a baby's behind, and give one of those vinyl pro's a shoot at it. No it wouldn't look 'just' like chrome. But better than paint, or HVAC tape I bet.

Member

Most folks here do not like painted bumpers.
I however do, based on the alternatives.
Re chrome is very expensive.
A good non shiny aluminum or light grey looks good.
Also depending on the car, painting the bumpers a different color can be very effective.
I chose to paint the bumpers a satin black on my car, even though the chrome bumpers were in very nice shape..

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I have in the past painted my fiberglass bumpers to look like fake chrome. and lettered them caution fiberglass. . a friend of mine did his steel bumpers the same way and lettered his the same way. It depends on the look your going for. Carl

My front bumpers are a mix of great and terrible. You can see where water must have run down the seam between the fenders and the hood, and dripped on the bumper for many years. In those areas the chrome is gone, and I've abraded it down to the smooth base metal with a smooth, gradual edge between "no-chrome" and "chrome".

In other spots, you can see where the bumper was hit hard enough to crack the "shell" of chrome, without denting the bumper. In these areas, the chrome is missing in a star-shaped pattern, with nice, sharp edges.

Neither types of damage look good with the modeling chrome paint I applied. As I said, I'm looking for an interim solution while I save up for chroming. The nearest chrome shop is 2+ hours from here (in San Antonio), so just getting the parts to the shop is costly.

I'm going to try a metallic paint made for metal next. I don't expect miracles. lol

ALLIANCE MEMBER

No substitute for chrome.That being said if you peel the bumper down to bare metal,prime properly and paint it with silver brake caliper paint it looks pretty decent and stays on quite well.Does NOT look like chrome.That paint has been on there for two years now.IME "chrome" paint is in the same category as free sex and self cleaning rifles-fairy tales.
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I have seen them self cleaning rifles, they did not even send us any cleaning kits.
Worst thing to have in a fire fight, been there done that

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They do have chrome paint on the market that looks pretty much, well like chrome. I have also heard of guys painting their bumpers with it and not being satisfied witht he durability and staining. No personal experience...yet. Check out his link

They do have chrome paint on the market that looks pretty much, well like chrome. I have also heard of guys painting their bumpers with it and not being satisfied witht he durability and staining. No personal experience...yet. Check out his link

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That stuff looks great, but it doesn't sound like something I can do myself.

Member

Save your money. Those faux-chrome sprays look wonderful for about a year. The base is powdered aluminium with several clear or candy coats to create the shine. After a while, the clear coat will crack at a seam/edge and air will begin to oxidize the aluminium powder, turning it dull white. The oxidation spreads slowly under the entire clear coat. Bumpers, grilles etc are subject to minute stone chips and each one will spawn the oxidation process. Ask me how I know!